Cory Littleton, LB
Remember when DeAndre Levy emerged as one of the most impactful off-ball LBs in the league for the Lions a few years back? How he sort of emerged from role player to dominant cover backer? That’s Littleton’s career arc with the Rams.
Littleton, 26, stepped up as a shutdown coverage LB in the last two seasons when given a chance to play extensively. Like Levy in his pre-injury prime, he’s excellent at running anywhere on the field with tight ends and RBs, and at undercutting routes and getting his hands on the ball. He has 18 PDs in the last two seasons. The entire Lions LB corps has eight in the same span.
He’s not a run-stuffer, nor should he be deployed as one. At 6-3 and 228 pounds and blessed with both agility and speed, he’s a player who would handle the role many want for Clemson’s Isaiah Simmons out of the draft and has proven he can do it very well at the NFL level already.